Electrical wall-switch



E. THOMPSON.

ELECTRICAL WALL SWITCH.

APPLlCATlON FILED FEB. 13, 1920.

Patented Sept. 6, 1921.

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EMIL THOMPSON, OI OMAHA, NEBRASKA, ASSIGNOR OF ONE-HALF T0 BANG-VALOLESON, OF OMAHA, NEBRASKA.

To allwhome'tmay concern." a

0 Be it known that I, EMIL THOMPSON, a citizen of the United States,residin at Omaha, in the county of Douglas and tate of'Nebraska, haveinvented certain new and useful Improvements in Electrical Wall-Switches, of which the following is a SPQCl'. fication.

The present invention relates to electric switches, and moreparticularly to a device for facilitating the installation of a switchin a wall.

An object of the present invention is to provide a holder or carrier fora switch of common form, by means of which the common form or type'ofswitch may be conveniently and easily mounted in a wall in lieu of thespecially constructed and expensive switches and housing now in use.

Another object ofthe invention is to provide a switch holder or supportadapted to take the place of the Wall boxes now commonly employed, andto permit the use of the common rotary snap switch in walls, and in suchposition that this type of switch may be entirely housed behind a coverplate substantially flush with the outer surface of the wall.

A further object of the invention is to provide a holder or supportwhich is of cheap construction and adapted to hold a relatively cheapswitch in the same position, flush with the surface of a wall, as themore expensive and peculiarly constructed switches are mounted; and toprovide a holder of this character which is adapted to accommodatefastening devices at selective points for engagement with the lathe ofthe wall irres ective' of the ragged uneven ends and t e spacing apartof the laths near the margin of the recess in the wall.

A still furthe object of this invention is to provide a holder orsupport for an ordinary switch which may be quickly and economicallystamped up from sheet metal, and which is constructed to provide a prostection for theheads of screws, or the like, employed in securing theholder to the wall;

and which affords a substantial support for' a cover plate adapted tohouse the holder and the switch within the wall.

The above, and various other important obiects and advanta es of thisinvention wi l in part. be descri ed in, and in part be specification otLetters Patent.

Patented Sept. 6, 1921.

a uemomnea February 13, 1920. Serial to. 353,333.

understood from, the following detailed description of the presentpreferred embodiment, the same being illustrated in the accompanyingdrawing, wherein:

igure 1 is a sectional view part1 in elevatlon through a holderconstructe according to the present invention as applied to a wall andsupporting a common type of snap switch.

1g. 2 is an outer face view of theswitchholder with a switch therein.

Fig. 3 is a rear face view of the same. Fig. 4 is a plan view of thebase plate of the holder.

5 is an edge view of the same, and

through the base plate. Y

Referring to the drawing, and first to Fig. 1, 10 designates laths of awall which are supported in the usual manner upon studdmg or the like,not shown, and which sup- Fig. 6 1s a longitudinal section taken port afacing of plaster 11 applied in the ordlnary manner.

The wall, designated generally by 11, is provided with a recess oro-penin to receive a switch, and the laths 10, a out the marginof theopening, terminate in ends 12 which are usually ragged and uneven, andFlg. 1 shows the ends 12 of the laths terminating short of the marginaledge of the opening in the wall 11. This is a condition usually met within the forming of recesses onopenings in walls as it is impractical tocut or break the laths 10 with any degree of accuracy with respectto thesize of the opening or recess.

13 designates the base of a common type of a rotary snap switch equippedwith a housing 14 mounted on the base and provided with a knurled orotherwise roughened thumb piece 15 arranged exteriorly of the casing 14to be grasped between the fingers for operating the switch. The base 13of the switch is provided, as seen in Figs. 1 and 3, with lateralopenings 16 to receive wires, and binding screws 17 mounted in the backof the base for securing the wires in the openings 16. This is the usualconstruction of snap switch which may be bought on the market at arelatively cheap figure. The present invention provides a holder forsupporting this relatively economical and common type of snap switch inthe opening in the wall, and to take the place of the usual junction orwall box with its appurtenances and specially constructed switch.

The holder of this invention comprises a base plate which may be madeintegral from sheet metal and which, as shown in Figs. 4, 5 and 6, maybe stamped to provide an intermediate strap or arched portion 18 adaptedto fit more or less snugly in the opening of the wall 11 and to have itsend portions or wings 19 lie against the outer surface of the wall 11.,The win 19 are preferably of reater width than the strap or archedportion 18 of this base plate, the wings being equipped with a pluralityof" spaced apart openings 20 adapted to selectively receive thereinfastening screws 21, or the like, by means of which the base plate,generally indicated at 18, may be mounted in the recess of the wall. Inthe upper part of Fig. 1 the full lines disclose the fastening screw 21arranged in an opening 20 of the wing near the inner edge of the latter.Should however the laths 10 be too short tocatch the screw thus shown,the screw 21 may be positioned in an outer opening 20 of the wing inorder to catch the laths 10 at a point more remote from the recess inthe wall as shown in dotted lines. The wings 19 are of greater widththan the strap 18 for the purpose of accommodating the fastening screws21 to the intermediate portions of laths, so that the screws need not bedriven into the wall between the spaced edges of the laths. In otherwords, the holder 18 is so constructed as to accommodate fasteningscrews 21 in practically any selected position to secure a firm holdupon the laths 10 and thus support the base plate 18 rigidly upon thewall by employing but one screw 21 at each end of the base plate. Ofcourse any number of screws may be used, but it is found that one screwin each end of the base plate, when properly located, is suflicient torigidly hold the base plate in the wall.

The strap of the base plate has a flat counter sunk bottom against whichthe base 13 of the ordinary switch is adapted to be seated, and screws22 are passed through suitable openings formed in the bottom of thestrap 18 to register with the usual openings found in the base 13 of theswitch to secure the latter rigidly upon the base plate.

The base plate of the present invention is therefore adapted not only tobe secured to walls with laths differently located and of differentlengths, but also is adapted'to the ordinary switch to support itwithout alteration in construction or any additions thereto.

For the purpose of housing the heads of the screws, without formingcounter sinks in the wings 19 of the base plate, the opposite edges ofthe wings 19 are struck up or outwardly to form relatively shallowflanges 23 serving also as supports for a cover or the switch. The faceplate 2 1 is provided with an inwardly extending marginal flange 26substantially closing the spaces between the flanges 23 of the wings andserving, as shown in Fig. 3, to hold the face plate and the switch fromsagging upon the base plate.

From the above, it is thought that the installation and use of theholder will be apparent, for when the opening is formed with the wall11, the strap 18 of the base plate is inserted in the opening and thescrews 21 are secured through selected openings 20 of the wings tosecure the desired purchase upon the laths 10 for supporting the baseplate. The snap switch is first secured to the bottom of the base plate18 by the screws .22 in the same manner as is usual in secur ing thesnap switch to any support. The cover plate 24- is now fitted over thefront of theswitch and against the flanges 23 of the base plate, screws27 being secured through the upper and lower portions of'the base plateand threaded in suitable openings 28 into the base plate.

The holder thus supports the ordinary snap switch in a recess in thewall and houses or covers the switch in such a manner that the knurledthumb piece 15 only projects from the wall and is in such position thatit may be readily grasped for operating the switch. The holder thuscomprises but two parts, a base plate and a cover plate, and these partsmay each be formed from a single blank of sheet metal or the like sothat the device may beeoonomically manufactured and is strong, rigid,and durable in construction.

It is of course undertsood that various changes and modifications maybe'made in the Size, form and proportions of the abovedisclosedembodiment of this invention without departing from the spirit thereof,such changes and modifications being restricted only by the scope of thefollowing claim.

What is claimed is In combination, a base plate of narrow constructionadapted to extend diametrically across the base of a switch casing,narrow straps extending from said base plate and being bent atsubstantially right angles so as to lie along the upper and rearportions of the switch casing, said straps being made in one piece withthe base plate and having their outer ends turned in opposite directionsat right angles to the planes of the straps, wings made in one piecewith the out-turned portions of said straps, said wings being extendedto opposite sides of the straps and being provide with perforationstherein, fastening means passing through the perforations and securingthe wings to a support, said wings being provided at their lateral edgeswith forwardly over-turned flanges extending outwardly at substantiallyright angles to the planes of the body portions of the wings, theflanges of the upper and lower wings extending substantially in verticalalinement, and a cover plate fitted over and concealing the wings andstraps and having its interior face adapted to come into contact onlywith said flanges, fastening means passing through said cover plate andengaged with the outwardly turned portions of said straps, said coverplate provided with marginal flanges bent rearwardly at an obtuse angleto the plane of the cover plate, the upper and lower flanges of thecover plate adapted respectively to engage the upper and lower ends ofthe flanges on said wings whereby to center the cover plate in avertical direction and to guide the cover plate into place by theengagement of the obtuse flanges thereon with the upper and lower edgesof the flanges on the wings, substantially as described.

In testimony whereof, I have affixed my signature in presence of twowitnesses.

1 EMIL THOMPSON.

Witnesses:

ARTHUR H. STURGES, HIRAM A. STURGEs.

